


Two in the Morning

by TakingOverMidnight3482



Series: Think Outside the Love Square [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, Identity Reveal, aka there isn't enough max content in this fandom, and it's time for me to start a series of reveals, apparently
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-03
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-07-24 19:52:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16182023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TakingOverMidnight3482/pseuds/TakingOverMidnight3482
Summary: “At some point during his akumatization, Markov started disobeying Hawkmoth,” Max continued, leaning back from his computer and turning his head away. He lifted a hand and rubbed at his chin. “He started attacking him with things near Hawkmoth himself so that he couldn’t stop Markov from getting yours and Ladybug’s miraculous.”His behavior was making Chat nervous. “Max? What are you saying?”“The second largest concentration of dots is Hawkmoth’s lair,” Max said.





	Two in the Morning

**Author's Note:**

> I was rewatching Robostus and I realized that Max is...way too smart to not figure anything out. So here's this reveal!
> 
> Maybe I should make this a series of "reveals that aren't exclusively the love square.".....fuck it imma do it. After this I'm adding the Caline one to it.

“You know, I’d love to know how you got this number,” Chat quipped as he landed on Max’s sill, tail swishing out the window as he held up his baton, a sly smile on his face. 

Max smiled, faint, and shrugged. “I have my ways,” was all he said. 

Chat frowned, sinking into the room all the way and shutting the window behind him. “You wouldn’t have called if something wasn’t wrong. What’s up, Max?” 

Max glanced sideways at the hero and slumped. “Well...after Markov was akumatized, I got to thinking. He didn’t remember what happened to him, much like the rest of the victims, myself included. But while he was akumatized, he broadcasted the same signal out to all of the technology in the Paris area.” 

He sat down at his laptop and Chat moved to stand next to him, crossing his arms over his chest and tilting his head. “Right.” 

Max hummed, bringing up a wide map of the city, with splotches of red highlighted all over it. “The red spots are bits of tech that was affected over the city. You can see the largest concentration where we were, over here in the arena,” Max said, pointing at the massive cluster of red in the corner. 

“Makes sense,” Chat mused. 

“At some point during his akumatization, Markov started disobeying Hawkmoth,” Max continued, leaning back from his computer and turning his head away. He lifted a hand and rubbed at his chin. “He started attacking him with things near Hawkmoth himself so that he couldn’t stop Markov from getting yours and Ladybug’s miraculous.” 

His behavior was making Chat nervous. “Max? What are you saying?” 

“The second largest concentration of dots is Hawkmoth’s lair,” Max said. His voice was even lower now, and Chat Noir stiffened. 

“Why didn’t you call Ladybug?” he demanded, already pulling his baton off his back. “If you have my number, you definitely have hers!” 

Max reached a hand out, grabbing the baton gently enough that Chat knew he wasn’t going to fight, but firmly enough to force the hero to stop. “I do,” Max admitted. “But I needed to tell you this first.” 

Chat frowned, lowering his baton slowly. “Why?” 

“Hawkmoth is your father, Adrien.” 

Everything in that sentence made Chat Noir rip away from Max’s grasp, heart pounding and throat going dry. “Excuse me?” he managed. “I’m not-” 

“Adrien,” Max said, leveling his gaze with the hero. “You know how smart I am, and that’s not me bragging. Don’t even try. You think I can figure out all of _this_ without knowing who you are?” 

Chat hesitated, eyes flicking to the screen. “E-Even so, it can’t...it can’t be him,” he protested, shaking his head furiously. “He’s been akumatized before.” 

“Ladybug can use Lucky Charm on herself, and I assume you can use Cataclysm on yourself, though trying would be literally catastrophic. So who’s to say that Hawkmoth couldn’t akumatize himself? Look at the map, Adrien.” 

Despite himself, Chat leaned over Max’s chair, following the boy’s hovering finger to the second largest cluster of red dots, centered entirely around his mansion and the atrium next to it. He swallowed, panic welling in his throat. “It could be Nathalie, or...or the Gorilla...” 

“You know it’s not, Adrien,” Max said. His voice was compassionate, eyes sad, and Chat wasn’t sure he’d ever seen him look like that before. “Besides, Nathalie was out on errands that day, and the Gorilla was waiting for you at school. You know that. I searched their phones with the same question. Your father remained inside the whole day.” 

Chat stumbled back, sinking to the floor and leaning against Max’s bed. “Claws off,” he whispered, throat choked. 

The transformation washed over him and Plagg hovered there. The Kwami shot a quick glance at Max, who didn’t look remotely surprised, and then turned back to Adrien. “Kid,” he whispered. “What do you want to do?” 

“Did you know?” Adrien asked instead of answering. 

Plagg frowned. “I...I suspected,” he admitted. “But I didn’t have proof until now.” 

He looked back at Max, who was leaning his elbows on his knees and watching the duo with slight curiosity. “Not a word about this, kid,” Plagg warned. 

Max rolled his eyes. “Please. I’m not incompetent. That’s why I called Adrien first. I wanted to see how you wanted to handle it. Figured...figured I would tell you what I knew. So that you could have a friend on your side.” 

Adrien looked up, his fingers slipping from where they had been tugging on his hair, and Max offered a sad smile. “I'm sorry, Adrien.” 

“No, no, it’s...” Adrien took a deep breath, leaning his head back against the bed and shutting his eyes. “Thank you for telling me,” he murmured. “I just don’t know what to do about it right now.” 

Max settled next to him, adjusting his glasses and letting his knee bump against Adrien’s. “That’s okay. I calculated that it would take a while for it all to sink in. But I’m not going to tell anyone, and I’ve wiped Markov’s hard drive of the night. That’s the only copy that remains. Say the word and I delete it.” 

Adrien huffed and shook his head again, relaxing as Plagg settled into his hair and curled up comfortably on the crown of his head. “Not yet. Let me...let me check around at home, see if there’s anything I can use or do on my end. Thank you,” he said again. 

Max shifted uncomfortably, looking at the floor. “I told you your father is a supervillain,” he whispered. “I can understand if you’re mad, Adrien.” 

“You were honest with me, Max. And that’s something he’s never been. So thank you. Can I...spend the night? It’s kind of late.” 

Max gave him a small smile. “Yeah. Let me make up the guest bed.” 

He pushed to his feet and trudged off, Adrien watching him go with a thoughtful smile. “Hey Plagg?” 

“Mmm?” 

“How much convincing would I have to do to get Master Fu to give Max a miraculous?” 

“Too much for two am.” 

“Good point.” 

“Seriously, Adrien, are you okay?” Plagg asked between yawns. 

Adrien frowned, drawing his knees up to his chest and taking a breath. He knew now, why Hawkmoth wanted his and Ladybug’s miraculous. Gabriel hadn’t been the same since Adrien’s mother left. But from what Ladybug had told him, the wish that their powers granted would take something from someone else to give them what they wanted. 

An eye for an eye. 

Adrien didn’t want another kid to lose their mother so he could get his back. 

“I will be,” he decided after a few moments. 

“I’m here if you need me.” 

Adrien smiled, lifting a hand to scratch Plagg between the ears as Max came back in, laden with blankets. “Got any cheese, Max?” 

Max glanced at the suddenly awake Kwami and a smile flickered across his face. ”I’ll see what I can find.”

**Author's Note:**

> You know this wasn't intended to be shippy but I won't lie, I lowkey started to ship them by the time I finished. Just more proof that the only good end game for this show is the whole class being poly together.


End file.
